The present invention relates to a partition for forming a shower enclosure which includes multi-ply sheets of extrudable plastics material and sectional rails that form a frame. The plastics material of the multi-ply sheets are supplied by way of at least two webs which are produced by extruders having flat sheet dies and which are joined, together with a structured web, by means of rolls.
The sectional rail of the invention, which is particularly for a shower enclosure, comprises a recessed guide groove which is provided in an outer surface that is exposed to sight, and a facing strip which is received, by means of an elastic connecting strip in the guide groove, with the connecting strip engaging a recess of the sectional rail by a laterally protruding portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,943 to Degginger, et al discloses a process for manufacturing multi-ply sheets involving two webs of plastics material supplied by two extruders. A polishing stack is downstream of each extruder for polishing the webs which then are fed to a further set of rolls. A third extruder supplies a thermoplastic sheet which is fed, together with a long glass mat supplied from rolls, to the same set of laminating rolls. When entering thereinto, the thermoplastic sheet has a temperature above the fusion point of the plastics material so that the glass mat may become encased in the thermoplastic material. The two webs, initially, are to be joined in the process, although they are chilled to a large extent after having passed the polishing stack which is arranged at a relatively large distance from the set of rolls downstream of which smoothing rolls are arranged. From the webs thus assembled, the multi-ply sheets are cut to desired dimensions by means of suitable tools.
It will be seen that there are circumstances involved in performing this method which require comparatively large expenditures, the moreso since an additional extruder is necessary for embedding the glass mat or any type of structured web in the multi-ply sheets being produced. Moreover, a smoothing or polishing stack is arranged downstream of each of the two other extruders. Further problems arise with respect to control and, in particular, to synchronizing the operating of the various units such as the set of rolls, two polishing stacks and three extruders.
A sectional rail of the mentioned kind for a shower enclosure is disclosed in German Utility Model No. 80 13 940. The outer surface of the rail which is exposed to sight, is provided with a guide groove in which a facing strip of metal, plastic, wood, or the like, is inserted. The guide groove has recesses in its side walls, intended to retain the facing strip by means of an elastic connecting strip. The prior art connecting strip and the facing strip have a relatively large total height in the direction perpendicular to the outer surface of the sectional rail, so that the space available within the sectional rail is correspondingly reduced, or the overall dimensions and volume of the sectional rail must be correspondingly increased. This results in considerable expenditures on material, with not only the costs, but also the weight of the material being correspondingly high. Further, the prior art sectional rail hardly permits a firm retention of the facing strip, since due to the manufacturing tolerances, there may be play between the section rail, the connecting strip and the facing strip, and thus only a a relatively loose seat of the facing strip in the facing sectional rails may be achieved. Dirt and other matter may deposit between the facing strip and the sectional rail, which is undesirable for sanitary reasons, especially in shower enclosures.